Adjustable wire stretching and setting implement



Dec. 29, 1953 J. A. MAIER 2,664 ;1'1-7 ADJUSTABLE WIRE STRETCHING AND SETTING IMBLE IMENT I Filed July 25, 1949 72W HHH M F II IH II I John A. Maier INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 29, 1953 ADJUSTABLE WIRE STRETCHING AND SETTING IMPLEMENT John A. 'Maier, Lincolnville,:Kans.

Application July 25, 1949, Serial No. 106,643

1 Claim.

The present invention .relates to certain new and useful improvements in tools and implements, of the manually applicable and actuable type, which are adapted to pull, stretch, and temporarily set screenwire for permanent tacking on window and door frames.

It is a matter of common knowledge that it is customary practice, when applying screen fabric and wire to a frame opening, to permanently tack .one edge of the wire to the rabbeted inner marginal portions of the frame so that the opposite is to structurally, functionally and otherwise um I prove on wire pulling and stretching implements in the class stated. Therefore, having devised and perfected an instrumentality which has proved out to be practical and efficient, I have evolved one in which manufacturers and users will find their needs and requirements fully met, contained, and readily available.

In reducing to practice the preferred embodiment of my invention, I have evolved and produced a simple, economical and conveniently usable implement which is novel in that it is characterized by a lever unit of special design and a complemental jaw unit, the jaw unit being adjustably mounted on the lever unit to enable the parts to accommodate frame members of varying sizes.

More explicitly, novelty is predicated upon a feasible and readily usable screenwire pulling, stretching and setting implement wherein the lever unit embodies a handle, a thrust abutment at right angles to one end of the handle, a stop abutment attached to and disposed at right angles to said thrust abutment, and an ear carried by and at right angles to said stop abutment, said ear serving as a practical mount for the readily adjustable toothed jaw unit.

Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 isa perspective view of an implement constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention and illustrating the manner in which same is used. v

Figure 2 is a view on an enlarged scale with a portion of the handle broken away and with other portions shown in section.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary end elevation of Figure 2 reading from right to left.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals and lead lines, the lever unit is denoted by the numeral 5 and the jaw unit by the numeral "6. The lever unit is made of strap iron of appropiate rigidity. It embodies an elongated portion 1 which constitutes the handle and two abutments 8 and 9 on one end of the handle. The abutment 8 is at right angles to the handle and joined by way of a slightly curved heel ID. The abutment 8 is adapted to bear against an edge I l of the frame l2 and may perhaps be best distinguished as a fulcruming and thrust abutment. The shorter abutment 9 is a stop abutment and is adapted to rest against the broad flat surface [3 of the frame member. The terminal end of the metal strap is bent at right angles to the abutment 9 and provides what I call an apertured adapter ear M. The aperture serves to accommodate the screw-threaded rod M forming a part of the jaw unit 6. This rod is of appropriate length and is held in place by an adjusting nut l6 and a lock nut ll. These nuts are threaded on the rod and one bears against one side of the ear and the other against the other side of the ear so that it is possible to make adjustments and then look the rod at the point wanted. The righthand end portion I8 of the rod is formed integral with the plate or body I9 of the jaw. This plate is provided along its lower edge with suitably shaped and curved teeth 29 to engage in the customary square openings in the screen-wire fabric 2|. The upper end of the plate is bent to provide a lateral flange 22 which may be pressed by the fingers or with a tool to drive the teeth 20 into the rabbet 23. Thus, we have a handle I which is linearly straight, a right-angularly disposed thrust abutment 8, a stop abutment 9 at right angles to abutment 8, and an upstanding or vertical adapter ear M which constitutes a mount for the nut and threaded rod of the jaw unit 5, a simple choice and satisfactory coordination of elements, indeed. It will be noticed that the abutment 8, when the tool is fully applied, is in approximate parallelism with the plate 19. Abutment 8 serves not only to facilitate the fulcruming action and thrust or pulling step but, also, in conjunction with abutment 9, provides a clamp for holding the implement in place after the wire has been stretched and is ready for tacking. Consequently, with the implement in place, as shown in Figure 1, the screen wire has been fully stretched and is set and now ready to be tacked in place.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this 1 art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same 1 is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A screen wire pulling, stretching and setting implement adapted to facilitate tacking an edge of a piece of screen wire to a frame comprising a one-piece jaw unit embodying a flat vertical plate provided along its normal lower edge with wire engaging and holding teeth and provided along its normal upper edge with a laterally bent reinforcing and thumb piece forming flange which may be used to exert pressure and embed the teeth in said frame, and a screw threaded rod rigidly secured at one end to an intermediate portion of one side of said plate, said flange overlying the secured end portion of said rod. and a lever unit having handle means on a plane below the plane of said teeth, having an abutment at right angles to said rod and disposed in spaced parallelism in respect to said vertical plate, having a stop abutment attached to and at right angles to said first named abutment and adapted to rest upon the surface of said frame, said stop abutment terminating in a right angularly disposed ear, said ear being apertured, said rod having one end passing through said aperture, and assembling and clamping nuts mounted on the rod on opposite sides of and cooperable with said ear and serving to adjustably interconnect the ear and rod.

JOHN A. MAIER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 524,125 Barclay Aug. '7, 1894 740,630 Darst Oct. 6, 1903 738,421 Distelhurst Sept. 8, 1903 900,726 Gwynne Oct. 13, 1908 932,650 Totten Aug. 31, 1909 1,237,875 Dickerson Aug. 21, 1917 1,405,555 Kuehner Feb. 7, 1922 1,657,859 Hughes Jan. 31, 1928 2,108,638 Benedict Feb. 15, 1938 

